RAM/Cummins test drive observations

4BIGAL wrote:

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I am excited to have a truck that will be oversized for what I need powerwise so I can just set the cruise and drive. My V10 has been excellent and has plenty of power but I hate to run cruise in the hills too much. I am fine with it down shifting to 3rd (3200 rpm) towing 63 mph but every once in a while it will drop to 2nd and rev to 4500 rpm. Might be designed for this but it drives me crazy so I usually drive with out cruise control in this situation. Hit lots of these hills last month driving thru South Dakota. Drop to 3rd on just about every hill.

Well, I doubt the RAM/Cummins will drop to 3rd on every hill, but the way it's cruise works while towing is prolly what I like least about it.

It allows the speed to drop way down, then downshifts and hammers the go pedal to catch up. I don't mind the drop in speed so much, or the downshift, but then it really gets noisy storming up to the set speed so fast. At a 62 mph set point, the rpms go from ~1350 in 6th to over ~2500 in 5th when catching up, moving the boost meter way over 1/2 way. It then settles down to about 1700 in 5th when cruising.

Actually a lot of our vehicles have done this, and it always drives me nuts. But somehow with the RAM/Cummins it's noisier and there's more vibration than with our old truck. That may have something to do with trim level though.

I don't have to turn off cruise to deal with it though. I just lock out 6th gear and cruise in 5th. At 1700 rpm at 62 mph it's right at its peak torque and seems to roll over most everything around here with our 8500# trailer. It's also reasonably quiet and prolly burns less fuel; that heavy acceleration when "catching up" under cruise really sucks the fuel.